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Crusader
In Darkness Falls among the criminal element there is no name feared greater than that of Crusader. When he first appeared in 2000, Crusader quickly disrupted the criminal element and criminal activities in Darkness Falls. So successful was he that in time even the very idea that he might appear anywhere a crime was taking place earned him the standing ovation of being named the Arch-Hero of Darkness Falls. But then, Crusader disappeared. Along with many other mighty heroes and villains in paradigm City, he was there one moment and gone the next. The crime lords, thugs, and bosses of Darkness Falls breathed a sigh of relief. Crusader was finally gone. Or so they thought. The New Crusader While other eight year olds were fed breakfast, trundled off to the school bus, and played with their friends, Samantha Waller lived on the mighty streets of fabled Darkness Falls. Home. Home was a word detestable to her, because home meant the shouting, the drinking, and the pain. Sure, the streets were hard but Sammy was a smart cookie. She learned how to move without being seen. She learned the intricacies of locks and security systems, she learned how to bluff and talk her way out of any situation. She knew how to survive. What she didn't know is that the man who grabbed her wrist and tugged her close when she tried to get his wallet out of his pocket would change her life forever. That man was Donald Thassen. Thassen was the owner of the Darkness Falls Historical Museum, and incredibly wealthy. On that rainy night when he, cold and stern and unyielding, looked into her face as she ignored her shrieks for help and the kicking of his shins he saw something noble there, a woman of courage and determination and strength just waiting to be grown into. Thassen didn't have to use much weight to have the girl named as his ward and brought into his house. After a dozen escape attempts which Thassen always seemed to anticipate Sammie finally resigned herself to her warm bed, her three healthy squares a day, and good clean clothes. And then the training started. It was beyond hard. Her body was subjected to ways of moving it never had done before, and she used muscles she hadn't previously known she had. She learned how to flip and dodge, how to strike and more importantly ''where ''to strike. She was constantly put to the test to open this lock or defeat that security system. She learned chemistry, how to set and diffuse explosives, and how to use her observational skills to pick up on the faintest clues and most subtle give aways. By the time Sam was fifteen, she was an Olympian level athlete and a cunning detective, and was convinced that her mentor, whom by now she loved as a father, was a super-villain. Or at least a criminal mastermind. She was wrong. When Thassen finally took her into a secret elevator and down into the belly of the estate, she learned how wrong, exactly. She gawked at the vehicles, the computers, the lab, and the gadgets. Most of all, she gawked at the costume. The costume of the one word that caused terror in criminals all over Darkness Falls. Crusader. When Thassen vanished overnight, leaving no trace of where he might have gone, Samantha knew what she must do. She understood what all the training meant. Donald Thassen, somehow, had known for years of the impending disappearance and he had done more than just select an heir. He had selected his replacement. Sam had the base's computers fabricate a new Crusader costume, one that would fit her dimensions. As the underworld popped open champagne bottles and lifted glasses high in toast to whatever dark power had wiped out the scourge of the criminal element, a turbo engine fired and a sleek black vehicle was thrown into gear. As crime celebrated and flooded over Darkness Falls, it had no way of knowing of the next storm that was coming. Crusader returned. Personality The first Crusader had a reputation for being hard-nosed, inscrutable, and utterly without mercy where crime and criminals are concerned. The New Crusader is no different. In costume she is cold, unemotional, and professional, She leads with her head, not her heart, and cannot be swayed by emotional appeals. Her moral compass is unwavering. She will not take a life, she will not attack or injure an opponent whom has surrendered, and she will never refuse a call for help. Quote "Go home." Powers Crusader has no true superpowers. She is, however, possessed of a keen analytical mind, an expert in three different martial arts forms, a gymnast, and an acrobat. She has trained herself to fight with the trademark Crusader shield and can perform amazing feats with it such as banking it off a wall to strike an opponent from behind or hurling it to deflect missile attacks aimed at others. She carries with her a variety of weaponry and gadgets tucked into hidden pockets of her armor and in her utility belt. She has been observed to use tasers, large shuriken, vials of chemicals, smoke bombs and mini-stun grenades, and numerous other devices. Her armor is made of a composite polymer hard plastic and steel which is both lightweight and flexible, yet resistant enough to repel a point-blank shotgun blast. Her shield is composed of Vibranium, the hardest metal known on earth and is indestructible. In addition to her gadgetry, Crusader has access to a secret base complete with computers, labs, and machine bays. She has three vehicles at her disposal: *The Crusader Car, a sleek black vehicle the size of a compact car but as heavy as a commercial jet. The Car is her most recognizable and utilized vehicle. It's armour plating can withstand extremes of structural damage and temperature, and it is equipped with a variety of weaponry. The Car has it's own artificial intelligence and is capable of speech, logical thought, and operating the vehicle without Crusader having to be in it. *The Jet is a small one man jet with a maximum altitude of thirty thousand feet and capable of reaching speeds of mach 2. Because it it air tight and comes complete with its own air filtration/recycling system it can serve as a sub-aquatic vehicle when needed and has been equipped with turbines and steering fins for that purpose. *The Motorcycle is about the size of a Kawasaki Ninja, and just as fast. Its light chassis doesn't allow for armoring but what it lacks in defense it more than makes up for in maneuverability. Like the car it has an arsenal of weaponry but it's artificial intelligence is only simple, it can pilot itself to a spoken destination but not much else. Category:Heroes